Swimming Australia is to dig deeper: an Integrity Panel is to look at specific allegations of drinking, pill popping and other bad behaviour in the wake of two independent reviews into Aussie woe at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The latest move was widely predicted by the Australian media.

The super troupers of inquiry will train their attention on the men's 4x100m freestyle relay squad that suffered what many believe to have been a self-inflicted wound: a fourth place in an Olympic final they had the capacity to win.

The relay squad will talk about their behaviour last year at a press conference tomorrow. Swimming Australia noted that Tommaso D’Orsogna, James Magnussen, Cameron McEvoy, James Roberts, Eamon Sullivan and Matthew Targett will meet the media at a Sydney hotel tomorrow after they all came "forward to discuss their involvement in a team bonding session in Manchester prior to arriving in the Olympic Village".

There will the swimmers will be Swimming Australia President Barclay Nettlefold and Australian Swimmers Association CEO Daniel Kowalski, an Olympic medallist in 1996.

A day after Southport coach Glenn Baker revealed that six out of 10 of Australia's Olympic team coaches and not been asked to contribute to either of two reviews into the breakdown of team culture last year, Swimming Australia has urged "swimmers, coaches and staff to be forthcoming with information that will lead to an improvement in culture, values and standards" in the sport.

“To establish the right culture, we have to investigate these allegations and deal with them appropriately by putting in place the right framework,” said Nettlefold.

“I will be encouraging the panel to look at each allegation and we want to stop talking about rumour and act on the facts of what did or did not actually occur.”

There is no detail as to what happens to any found to have breached team agreements. Among those who are likely to find themselves in the spotlight of inquiry are swimmers now preparing for a shot at the podium at Barcelona 2013 world titles. Humbling moments may well now form part of the last five months of preparations and there may be a price to pay. The official line is clear: any short-term price would be worth it if the long-term culture is changed for the better.

That long-term may also include questions about the very process underway. Focus is now trained on the swimmer and incidents of poor discipline and behaviour. The question is: was that the cause of Australian problems or simply the consequence of a larger problem that is being overlooked?

As Australia faces some instant demons, history recalls a library of lessons already learnt - but perhaps forgotten - Down Under.
Lisa Forrest, a member of the Moscow 1980 squad that travelled to Russia in a challenging environment beyond the water as well as in it, penned this for the SMH. It is well worth a read when issues of culture are being considered.

She refers to Bill Sweetenham, a young coach in 1976 whose charge Stephen Holland delivered the only Aussie medal in the Montreal pool - bronze in one of the most outstanding Olympic podium battles in swimming history, over 1500m free. The coach was not part of team staff in Montreal and guided Holland from afar. In Moscow, further along a learning curve four years on at a boycotted Games, Sweetenham was among coaches who represented an Australia team referred to by some back home as "traitors" because they put sport and their hard work before politics.

Looking back he now Sweetenham says: "We [Australia] have not remembered the lessons from the past. There has been complacency in preparation, skill execution and mental attitude, but it needs to return and return quickly. We can all be part of this process, but it must happen immediately."

He describes Forrest's article in these terms: "It exemplifies the sort of person and the athlete that she was and the team commitment that these people displayed, not so much at the Olympics but in every training session and every hour of every training session leading into the Olympics from 4 years out. This is something that we can do again."

Meanwhile, the SMH also has a take on events from Brant Best, coach to James Magnussen, who says of the London 2012 team: ''These are good kids and hard workers. They eat, they sleep and they swim. Most of them hold down part-time or full-time jobs to support that. A couple of them got a little bit carried away. They just went in the wrong direction but they have responded. These guys can handle that they didn't swim so well, and they're disappointed. But some of the comments are nasty and personal, and they hurt the kids. They have a big heart and they do care, so when people say they aren't training hard, it matters.''

Swimming Australia issued the following statement:

Following the release of the Independent Review of Swimming and the Bluestone Review into the culture and leadership , Swimming Australia will establish an Integrity Panel to be chaired by former Australian Rugby Union Chairman and Partner at Griffin Legal, Mr Peter McGrath.

The Panel, which will also comprise Swimming Australia Board Members Mr Peter Lozan, Ms Chloe Flutter and Interim CEO Mr Jeremy Turner, will be charged with investigating allegations of inappropriate behaviour stemming from the two reviews announced on Tuesday.

The Panel will look at alleged matters of drunkenness, misuse of prescription drugs, breaching curfews, deceit, and bullying, and compliance with the Swimming Australia Team Agreements signed by athletes, coaches and team officials.

Swimming Australia President Barclay Nettlefold said the Integrity Panel is a critical next step in developing the right culture going forward.

“First and foremost, we encourage swimmers, coaches and staff to be forthcoming with information that will lead to an improvement in culture, values and standards within the EnergyAustralia Swim Team and Swimming Australia generally,” said Nettlefold.

“To establish the right culture, we have to investigate these allegations and deal with them appropriately by putting in place the right framework.”

“I will be encouraging the panel to look at each allegation and we want to stop talking about rumour and act on the facts of what did or did not actually occur.”

“We will be decisive, we will be firm and we will discipline athletes, coaches and staff accordingly, where such action is deemed appropriate and necessary, but we must get the facts first and follow the right processes to do that.”

The Integrity Panel will begin work on these investigations immediately and no further comment on the process will be made until the complete findings are handed to board of Swimming Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee.